Very young children develop by interacting with their surrounding environment. Sensory stimuli are one of a newborn or infant's first sources of learning (infants learn through audio and visual stimulation related to different fields of experience). For example, seeing bright colors, bold patterns, and moving elements fosters development of visual tracking skills. Listening to music and sounds stimulates auditory skills, while touching materials of varying texture enhances tactile skills. Each of these activities, moreover, encourages these children to use and develop their cognitive skills to differentiate among various sights, sounds, and textures. Consequently, toys for very young children are often developed to create varied interactive, sensory experiences. For example, infant gyms enhance both visual and auditory skills through stimulation by providing an infant an opportunity to use his or her senses while interacting with the gym. Infant gyms provide neurological stimulation, as well as develop an infant's motor and cognitive skills. Specifically, an infant gym with enhanced visual appeal, different textures, and busy activities stimulates the infant's senses, and thus his or her sensory development. Furthermore, infant gyms encourage an infant to kick, reach, and bat at hanging toys, developing motor skills. In addition, the infant's ability to repeatedly make events happen helps an infant understand cause and effect. Increasing interaction with an infant gym is desirable because it increases the infant's potential for learning. However, most infant gyms are only affective at holding an infants attention when the infant is only capable of lying in the supine position, and lose much of their use when the child begins to sit, or ultimately stand. Once infants are able to sit, craw, and/or walk, other forms of entertainment beyond hanging items that they can kick, reach, and bat at while lying in the supine position are desireable to continue to develop the infant's motor and cognitive skills and add value to the consumer. Thus, it is desirable to provide an entertainment device or toy including activities with which a child can interact to develop cognitive and/or motor skills as they grow older.
The present invention is directed generally to an entertainment device or toy that is capable of being used throughout the growth of the child. What is needed is a gym that is capable of being used during all of the early growth stages of a child, from when a child is only capable of lying in the supine position, to when the child can sit upright unassisted, to when the child is able to stand and walk around. The desired gym may further include one or more interactive features such as hanging elements and ball placement and drop elements that can be utilized in the different configurations.